Yes, this looks good, BUT if they paid $30. and got a refund of $3.00 then we agree they paid $27.00.
The bellboy ended up with $2.00.
His $2.00 plus the $27.00 they paid still equals $29.00.
Forget the actual price of the room.
Where did the extra $ go?

You're right, it did mess with my head, but I think I got it. You don't add the $2 the bellboy kept, you subtract it. Good one!
Mike

Why should I subtract the bellboys $2.00 from the total?
If the final total was the $27.00 the three men paid plus the $2.00 the bellboy kept, that equals $29.00.
I still do not see where the extra $ went.

Yes, this looks good, BUT if they paid $30. and got a refund of $3.00 then we agree they paid $27.00.
The bellboy ended up with $2.00.
His $2.00 plus the $27.00 they paid still equals $29.00.
Forget the actual price of the room.
Where did the extra $ go?

Are you being serious? If so, try it this way.

$30 What they paid
$25 Cost of room
----
$ 5 What the clerk gave the bell boy
$ 3 What the clerk gave the guests
-----
$ 2 What the clerk put in his pocket

or

$27 What they paid
$25 Cost of room
-----
$ 2 What the clerk pocketed

You can subtact the $3 from $30 because that is change. You must also subtract $2 from $30 because it is also change. $3 + $2 = $5. $30 - $5 = $25

You can also look at it as distribution of the original $30

$25 The clerk has it
$ 3 The guests have it
$ 2 The bellboy has it

"THIS MEANT THAT THE 3 MEN EACH PAID $9 FOR THE
ROOM, WHICH IS A TOTAL OF $ 27,
ADD THE $2 THAT THE BELLBOY KEPT = $ 29"

This is the key - the men paid 27 dollars - Of which $25 went for the room and 2 dollars went in the bellboys pocket.

I guess I am out of explanations except for this - Pierre Mundo had the answer. There is no other dollar.

Let's try it this way...

The guests gave the clerk $30

The clerk applied $25 to the price of the room. The bellboy stole $2.

Where is the other $3?

BTW - It may help if you look at who has what:

Clerk = $25
Bellboy = $2
Guests = $3

You can use the numbers in the above list in any way you want starting from $30 or 0$. But you can't use any twice. No one has $27 - therefore $27 has to be a sum. the only numbers that equal $27 are 25+2. The only number left is 3.